Research Article

Survey of Undergraduate Students’ Goals and Achievement Strategies for Laboratory Coursework

Published: 2019-5-14

Journal: Journal of Chemical Education

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00984

Abstract

### Survey of Undergraduate Students’ Goals and Achievement Strategies for Laboratory Coursework **Authors:** Stephanie Santos-Díaz, Sarah Hensiek, Taylor Owings, Marcy H. Towns **Published In:** Journal of Chemical Education, 2019, 96(5), 850–856 **Published Date:** April 26, 2019 **Abstract:** Previous work has shown a misalignment between the goals of faculty and students for laboratory coursework. Although faculty often list learning techniques and developing critical thinking skills as goals for laboratory, students tend to focus on affective goals, such as finishing lab early and obtaining good grades. The goals of faculty have been thoroughly investigated through both qualitative and large-scale quantitative studies. However, studies on student goals for laboratory coursework have primarily been conducted using qualitative methods. In order to provide a more comprehensive idea of students’ goals in the laboratory, we have designed a brief, online survey. The survey was used to investigate students’ goals in the laboratory and build on existing literature by including survey questions that catalog how students plan on achieving their goals. In this study, we discuss results about students’ goals and achievement strategies at the beginning of the semester and after completing the laboratory portion of the course. Anonymous responses, via the online survey, were collected from undergraduate students enrolled in chemistry courses at two Midwestern universities. These results are intended to inform the discussion among faculty regarding how to change laboratory coursework and the instruction to better align faculty and student goals. **Keywords:** First-Year Undergraduate, General, Second-Year Undergraduate, Upper-Division Undergraduate, Laboratory Instruction, Testing, Laboratory Management, Chemical Education Research **Cited By:** 27 Publications **Metrics:** Article Views: 2170, Altmetric: 5, Citations: 27 **DOI:** [10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00984](https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00984) **Contact:** Marcy H. Towns, *E-mail:* mtowns@purdue.edu **Institutional Access:** Access is not provided via your institution. Add or change your institution or let them know you’d like them to include access.

Faculty Members

  • Marcy H. Towns - Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2084, United States
  • Stephanie Santos-Díaz - Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2084, United States
  • Taylor Owings - North Montgomery High School, Crawfordsville, Indiana 47933, United States
  • Sarah Hensiek - Department of Chemistry, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland 21801, United States

Themes

  • Misalignment of faculty and student objectives
  • Impact of educational assessment on course design
  • Achievement strategies in education
  • Student goals in laboratory coursework

Categories

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